What are some ways I can make money with vocal percussion?
Thanks,
Isaac
Isaac, my friend, I wish I knew. ...Well, no, I'm mostly just kidding. But it does sometimes seem like an impossibly tall order. You've found something you really love, and you want to make money at it. Everyone's always told you "do what you love, and the money will follow" (or if they haven't, they should have) but it isn't that simple. It's not like you go out and beatbox and then checks appear in your mailbox (Though, if they did, I would definitely practice even more than I already do).
So, part of what I hear you asking is: how do you get paid to be a mouthdrummer? Today, that's pretty straightforward, believe it or not. You find an a cappella group that's making money, and you join them. That was easy! Of course, there's the issue of finding a group that's right for you, and for whom you are right. And there's the issue of tryouts. And rehearsal, and time management, and the touring itself, and taking care of yourself on the road, and so on. But that isn't really what you asked, so I'm sticking with my original answer: join a working a cappella group. (Or form one yourself, though if you're out to make money, that's only best if you think you can do better than the groups that already exist, and you're able and willing to wait a while for the money to start coming in.)
There are other ways to do it, of course. But this is the most straightforward that I know of today.
Some other ways include: Performing solo. Giving lessons. Recording drum loops for sale. Recording a solo album for sale. Gigging with other musicians to make valuable connections. There are lots of answers; these are just some of the ones I've had some success with personally.
There's a bigger question here, though: what do you do to turn passion into money? 'Cause that's what you're really asking, near as I can tell. This is, of course, WAY outside the scope of what I, a lowly beatbox instructor, can possibly hope to answer. Nonetheless, I never let that stop me before, and I'm surely not letting it stop me now! You're in a bind, Isaac, and I'm gonna help ya as best I can.
I'll start by quoting a blog that Google helped me to find: "...when you do what you love, you are passionate it about it. People feel that passion, whether they realize it or not, and therefore not only return but bring their friends. If you have the patience, you can carve out a career - assuming that there is a market for what you are doing, or that you can create a market. However, ... your passion itself will often help create the market, although it may take time ... this is more true for niche topics than ever before."
Bottom line: If you're doing something in order to get money, chances are, you're not going to do well. People who care about what they're doing routinely beat out people who do it as a means to an end. But if you really care about what you're doing, don't worry so much about how to turn it into cash. Just get out there and do it, do it, do it.
Once you've established the habit of doing your thing, the next step is to take a step back every so often (every month? every quarter? every week? It depends on you), putting on your Business Manager hat, and asking the important question: what small changes could I make so that I could be making more money doing more or less the same thing I've been doing? This comes down to finding markets that exist already and are just waiting for you... or creating new markets eager to pay you for what you do.
It really wouldn't be fair to end this article on an unanswered question, but I'm going to anyway, because we really are all in this together. Assume that right now, someone wants to pay you money for some aspect of the vocal percussion you already do. Who is that person, what does he or she do that he or she needs you, and how will he or she find you?
